Nevada Executions At Risk

By AP&nbsp|&nbsp

Posted: Mon 6:08 PM, Mar 06, 2006

A recent U.S. District Court decision that temporarily blocked executions in California could affect Nevada because both states use the same lethal injection procedure - described as cruel and unusual punishment by death penalty foes. The method for both states is to give condemned inmates threeinjections. The first, sodium thiopental, makes them unconscious;the second, pancuroniam bromide, paralyzes the lungs; and thethird, potassium chloride, stops the heart. Variations on the life-ending chemical dosages are used in 35other states that have made lethal injections their method ofexecution in capital cases. Assistant Federal Defender Michael Pescetta said the courtruling in the case of condemned California death row inmate MichaelMorales will be used to bolster the "unconstitutional cruel andunusual punishment" argument that he has raised in many Nevadaexecution cases over the years. "We are alleging this in every capital case we have, and now wecan point to the California federal court ruling," Pescetta said."The judge made it clear that the constitutional protections inthe California protocol are not adequate." Glen Whorton, head of Nevada's prison system, said he's"waiting to see what goes on over there" in California beforedeciding whether any change in this state's execution method isneeded. "When something is finalized there, we will probably look atours," he said. "We're just watching the situation to see whatgoes on. Chief Deputy Attorney General Conrad Hafen said he expects thatNevada death penalty foes will cite the decision in California byU.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel. "But it's going to require that a court in Nevada make aspecific finding that our procedures in fact constitute cruel andunusual punishment," Hafen said. "And an evidentiary hearingmight very well show a contrary conclusion." Fogel's ruling "certainly started us down on a different pathto consider this issue," Hafen said. "But at this point that'ssomething happening in California and it doesn't necessarily impactwhat we're doing in Nevada." Because of Fogel's ruling, California has proposed altering theway drugs are administered in executions. The new plan is tocontinually drip a sedative into prisoners to make sure they don'tbecome conscious during the process and feel too much pain as theydie. Hearings had been set for May 2 to determine whether the state'scurrent method amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. Thosehearings will now focus on the new procedure. A week before Morales' scheduled execution, Fogel recommendedthat California employ two anesthesiologists to ensure Morales'unconsciousness. The anesthesiologists, citing ethical concerns, bowed out. Fogelthen ordered a licensed medical professional, instead of a prisonstaffer, to administer the injection. No specialist steppedforward, and that essentially created a moratorium on capitalpunishment in California. The new protocol - like the old one - still wouldn't requirelicensed medical professionals to ensure no mistakes in theinjection procedure. Nevada, in addition to using the samechemicals, also doesn't require the involvement of suchprofessionals - other than the prison doctor who declares theinmate dead. Fogel ordered the changes in Morales' execution after studyingthe medical logs of executed inmates and finding that there were"substantial questions" about whether prisoners were consciousand feeling unacceptable levels of pain once a paralyzing agent wasadministered. The U.S. Supreme Court has never addressed whether lethalinjection amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. No executions currently are scheduled in Nevada, where 84 mennow are on death row. Eleven men have been executed in Nevadafollowing the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in 1976 that cleared theway for capital punishment to resume in this country. Ten of thosewho died in Nevada were inmates who declined to file appeals thatwould have kept them alive.

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